They warn of health risks in Gaza due to the lack of electricity

Research conducted by the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom highlighted that more than two million Palestinians living in this coastal enclave suffer from power outages that can last for more than 12 hours every day.

The research discovered higher levels of anxiety and depression among people who suffered more from this problem.

The team, which interviewed about 350 families in the region, reported that their sense of well-being improved with increased access to reliable energy sources.

93% of survey participants said they suffer from moderate-severe or severe anxiety, compared to 6% of West Bank residents.

“We found that electricity problems, especially when combined with other stressors associated with life in Gaza, lead to serious mental health problems,” said Raya Al-Dada, co-author of the study.

For his part, the lead author of the research, Mazen Abu Qamar, from Al-Azhar University in Gaza, stressed that “intermittent access to electricity can affect social and community networks in several ways, including reducing people’s opportunities to study or access job opportunities.” Health care services.”

Last month, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warned that the lack of electricity in that area “seriously affects the availability of basic services, especially health, water and sanitation.”

He said this problem undermines the already fragile living conditions of Palestinians living there.

In a graph, OCHA highlighted that on average so far this year, the region has only 14 hours of electricity per day, and although this is down, it improves on the data for 2022 and 2021, when 12 and 13 hours were reported on average. straight.

However, he explained that in July, in the middle of a heatwave, area residents only had 11 hours of light per day.

Recently, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Middle East warned that the Gaza Strip may face famine in the coming months due to the financial crisis that the entity is suffering from.

Israel has closed the Strip since 2007, when the Islamic Resistance Movement came to power there.

According to data from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the cumulative cost of Israel’s blockade of Gaza and economic restrictions totaled $16.7 billion from 2007 to 2018, a figure equivalent to six times the sector’s gross domestic product.

Jha/Rob